Tamedia receives green light for acquisition of Basler Zeitung
The media company Tamedia can take over the Basler Zeitung. The Competition Commission has given the green light.
With this takeover, Tamedia will further consolidate its market position. However, there is no risk of competition being eliminated, writes the Competition Commission.
Tamedia acquires Basler Zeitung AG from Zeitungshaus AG and in return sells Tagblatt der Stadt Zürich AG and FZ Furttaler Zeitung AG to Zeitungshaus AG. However, only the takeover of Basler Zeitung AG by Tamedia was examined by COMCO.
Following an in-depth examination, there are indeed indications that the takeover of Basler Zeitung could create or strengthen a dominant position in the reader market for daily newspapers in the Basel area (WEMF economic area 31) and in various markets for classified ads both in the Basel area and in German-speaking Switzerland, together with the NZZ/AZ Group and the Ringier Group. However, according to the Competition Commission, the change in ownership of Basler Zeitung will hardly change the market situation. The takeover will therefore not lead to the elimination of effective competition.
This means that the high hurdles set by the legislator and case law (possibility of eliminating competition) for an intervention by COMCO are not met, writes the Commission. It should also be noted that in merger control under the Cartel Act, purely economic, i.e. competition aspects and not media policy aspects, such as media diversity, are to be examined. The takeover is therefore no longer an obstacle from an antitrust law perspective.
